Miller raises water rates following Mo. Rural Water Assoc. recommendation

Former MPD Lt. Randall Bruce pays restitution, brother Joshua Bruce still faces eight felony charges
The Miller Board of Aldermen passed two ordinances changing the city’s water and wastewater rates during their meeting on Thursday, Oct. 24.
For customers living in city limits with a standard meter, the ordinance for water rates set the standard monthly water rate at $28 and the standard-two water rate at $42. For customers living outside of city limits with a standard meter, the monthly base rate is $42 and the standard-two base rate is $63.
Each of the base rates includes the first 1,000 gallons used per month. Customers will be charged $3 per additional thousand gallons used per month, regardless of location or meter size.
The wastewater ordinance set the monthly base rate $42.25 for customers with standard meters living within city limits, and $63.38 for customers with standard meters living outside of city limits.
Each of the base rates includes the first 1,000 gallons used per month. Customers will be charged $5.25 per additional thousand gallons used, regardless of location or meter size.
The changes in water rates come at the recommendation of Liz Grove, of the Missouri Rural Water Association. During the meeting on Sept. 12, Grove told the board that, based on a study of the city’s water and wastewater rates, the city’s rates were insufficient. She recommended the city adjust their rates to cover the expenses of water and wastewater service, as well as pay for upgrades to the system.
In other news…
- During the meeting, Daniels also reported that Randall Bruce, a former lieutenant with the Miller Police Department, has paid restitution to the city in the amount of $6,272. Bruce, who was also the brother to former Miller Police Chief Joshua Bruce, was terminated by the city on May 4, 2017, according to an audit of the city released in May of this year by State Auditor Nicole Galloway. The audit also stated Bruce was charged with a single felony count of receiving stolen property in August of 2017, but a recent search of online court records found no pending charges for him.
Joshua Bruce still faces eight felony counts of receiving stolen property; his next court date was set for Tuesday, Nov. 12.
 - During the meeting, the board also voted to pay $30 for Denise Robertson, city clerk, to test to become the city’s notary public. They also approved naming Robertson as municipal court clerk.
- Also, during the meeting, Mayor Stacy Daniels discussed surveys which were sent to residences in Miller to turn into the Department of Economic Development to see if the city could qualify for a Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) and funds of up to $750,000. Currently, the city needs five more surveys turned in to meet their goal.
“The city initially mailed out 291 surveys in early July,” Daniels said in response to an e-mail seeking comment. “We need 175 surveys returned. We followed up with a phone call in August to those that didn’t respond. Sue Bacorn, our grant writer for CDBG, and Isabella Karallas with our engineering firm TREKK went to the addresses that we hadn’t received back in September. With the remaining addresses we have not received, we sent a survey with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Since there were many sent to a vacant residence, Bacron asked the Department of Economic Development (DED) for additional addresses.  We will be mailing the addresses selected by the DED a survey, (and) we are hopeful we will get enough surveys to send to DED to see if we qualify for a CDBG grant.”
- During the meeting, Daniels reported that some Miller residents are refusing to fill out the surveys, have “slammed” their doors in the faces of those who tried to deliver surveys, and in some cases, yelled at those delivering the surveys to “stay off of (their) property.”
“I was actually told by a citizen that said, ‘Our group will not fill them out, because we want to force you to a vote,’” Daniels said.

In the e-mail interview, Daniels said city residents have the right to refuse to fill out the surveys, but they are “misinformed.”
“Where they are misinformed (is), they feel if we do not get funding the city will have to sell the system, which we do not,” she said. “What our residents need to remember is the people voted and passed the Revenue Bond Issue this past April for the upgrades. The revenue from the system, in this case our water and waste water, pays the debt incurred for the system; that is how rates are determined.  The more grant money we receive, the less we have to borrow, therefore the rates have to be increased minimally. Missouri Department of Natural Resources has been involved with determining where our rates should be, and were reflected in this initial increase.”